About

Aground

$13,514

pledged of $10,000 goal

584

backers

PayPal backing is now open via the Aground Official Website! Refer to the reward tiers on this page for details on what each tier includes. Late Backing: PayPal backing will remain open even after the Kickstarter campaign ends, and will continue to count towards stretch goals!

We made it to our base goal and the first stretch goal! Woohoo! Now, can you help us reach the next goals? Tweet about Aground or Share on Facebook to help us spread the word. Let's do this!

GOAL REACHED! $12,500 - Additional KS Exclusive Items! Should we reach this stretch goal, all backers who pledged $40 or higher will get additional Kickstarter-exclusive weapons and items (you can adjust your pledge level if you wish to get these items)! These more advanced exclusives will be high-tech and high-magic and useful in late game areas including the final boss fight.

$15,000 - Console Ports! Should we reach this stretch goal, we will port Aground to several major consoles. We'll have to work out all the specifics before we reveal the final list of consoles we will port to, but the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One are likely.

$17,500 - Co-op Multiplayer! We're super excited for this, and we know many of you are, too! Multiplayer will have all players working together to complete the quests and progress the storyline! It will include both local and online co-op.

As one of the last human survivors, you find yourself stranded on an uninhabited island. With a few other victims of the crash, can you craft, mine, and build your way to survival?

Aground was designed around the theme of Progression, and inspired by Utopian Mining, Starbound and A Dark Room. You start out with only the rudimentary ability to gather wood, and you can eventually build your way up to a thriving settlement, expand to other islands, develop advanced technology, and learn magic. Will you be able to confront the threat that caused you to crash? Fly dragons? Launch into space? The sky is literally not the limit.

The free version of Aground exploded in popularity immediately upon release, and now has over a million plays, and top ratings on all portals. That's why we're coming to Kickstarter - because we know the game can go so much further! And we are confident that we can make this happen - we've already deliveredone previously Kickstarter-funded game, and released over a dozen others.

With Aground, our goal is to keep you continually surprised, with exciting new options opening up around every corner, so you’re always wondering “what’s next?”. By the end of the game, even though there are a lot of systems and complexity, since everything has been built up bit-by-bit, it is all easily manageable.

Mine

The surface is just the beginning - there is a whole world to explore beneath. And you never know what you might find in the depths…

Build

Build a whole city for you and other survivors, with each structure adding new functionality and possibilities.

Craft

Use the materials you’ve gathered to create items, foods, and weapons to support you in your quests.

Quest

Survive

Balance your health, stamina, and carrying weight by using foods and items.

Advance

Upgrade and enhance your buildings - adventure to new islands (or new planets!) to learn higher technology and magic, and bring home your findings.

Discover

Progress through the story arcs and uncover the secrets of the planet, why you’ve been stranded here, and how to leave. But in the end, will you even want to escape?

Listen

So Far...

On October 24th of last year, we launched the very first free version of Aground via Newgrounds and Kongregate. We’d been developing the game without expectations - knowing it was the kind of game we would find fun, and simply hoping that others would agree. We had no marketing budget, we didn’t run ads… little did we expect the incredibly positive, supportive, and enthusiastic response from players that we received immediately upon launch! Within weeks, Aground had been played hundreds of thousands of times, won top monthly awards, and is consistently among the highest-rated games on all portals.

Now, the game has well over a million plays total, and a growing community of involved fans on the Aground Subreddit, Discord and game portals. Since launch, we have updated and expanded the game through versions 1.0.3 (auto-consume & mechanic tweaks), 1.0.4 (farm/livestock improvements), 1.0.5 (fishing), 1.0.6 (per-pixel movement), 1.0.7 (the mountain), 1.0.8 (equipment window & shields), 1.0.9 (pets and dragon taming), 1.0.10 (dungeons and hunter NPC), and 1.1.0 (second island).

NPCs busy at work adding items to your storehouse.

In the free version of Aground (available for play/download via Gamejolt, itch.io, Armor Games, Kongregate and Newgrounds), the credits roll after you’ve completed the quests available on the starting island and gotten a small taste of what we have in store for the next island (the science island to the west). But we want to do so much more, and so do our fans!

Where to From Here?

We want you to be able to stand aboard the deck of your starship, gaze out at the universe, and reflect upon the long journey you've taken since gathering fallen branches to build a hut and mining coal with a stone pickaxe. We’ve envisioned two major paths for players to follow in the game - the science path and the magic path, each with a unique storyline and ending. We have also planned an extra mystery path that can lead you to an alternative third ending.

Science Path

Upgrade your stone axes to drills and lasers - create and use technologies like submarines, teleporters, and of course spaceships - explore a galaxy of endless, procedural planets.

Magic Path

Discover the secrets of an ancient magical civilization, and use powerful enchantments to enhance your equipment and achieve your goals. Venture into the galaxy using your newfound knowledge.

Or, do both! You are free to wander back and forth between science and magic at will.

You Decide!

We want to do more than achieve our vision - we want to make the game that YOU want to play. From day 1, community involvement in Aground has been everything to us. As we continually update the game, we have acted upon countless fan suggestions - including the pets/familiar system, fishing, per-pixel movement, more crops/livestock, the diverging science and magic paths, and much more.

Do you have an idea that would make Aground even more fun for you? Step up and help steer us along by joining our Discord or Subreddit! We plan to continue incorporating player feedback throughout development.

Why We Need You

So far, we've been developing Aground on our savings and in our spare time between work that pays the bills. But the response to this game has been so incredible - we feel the fans deserve more! With your help, we could afford to make Aground a priority, getting you more updates - more upgrades - more Aground - more quickly! If we reach our funding goal here on Kickstarter, those funds will be enough (combined with continued savings of our own, since we believe in self-funding as well) to tide us over until we can launch an awesome early-access version of the full game. We will then continue to update and improve the game as long as we have sales and ideas or suggestions!

Platforms

Reaching our Kickstarter funding goal will let us develop a more complete, but still-in-development Early Access version of Aground - with vastly more content than the free version - for windows, mac & linux. Console and Mobile platforms are a possibility if we reach stretch goals!

Without picking up those first pieces of wood, we'd never have built up our colony!

You will get pretty digital wallpapers along with a special discord role (in our Aground server) and subreddit flair showing that you are one of our awesome backers!

We may be starting small with Early Access, but we'll be building our way up to a full game in no time!

Includes everything in the Survivor tier, and:

You will get an early access version of Aground (DRM-Free + Steam) when it launches, and all updates (including the completed game) for free!

For those underground beats.

Includes everything in the Builder tier, and:

You will get Chase's beautiful original soundtrack!

In an old version of the game, there was a bug that would sometimes spawn a builder clone. The bug is long gone, but the Doppelbuilder lives on in our hearts and this 2x game tier!

Includes everything in the Miner tier, and:

A second copy of the game (gift-able to friends)!

Help cultivate the game!

Includes everything in the Miner tier, and:

You will gain access to backer-only polls to help us choose features and make design decisions, and determine the course of the game!

Get your hands on some special goods!

Includes everything in the Farmer tier, and:

Gain access to Kickstarter-exclusive appearance customization for both you and your familiar!

All backers of this tier will also be able to vote on what exclusives we add!

Hunt down some cool new weapons!

Includes everything in the Trader tier, and:

Gain access to Kickstarter-exclusive weapons and items that have function as well as form.

All backers of this tier will also be able to vote on what exclusives we add!

The custom-made Aground T-Shirt! The initial design can be seen below:

Brew up some custom character art!

Includes everything in the Hunter tier, and:

Have a custom pixel-art character of you or your pet familiar designed and put in game! Just send us a photo or some concept art! Here are some examples:

For nothing is cooler than having your own character in game!

Includes everything in the Hunter tier, and:

Add your own NPC that includes both a pixel sprite (like the Alchemist tier) and a higher resolution hut-scene sprite. Details for the NPC's backstory and actions can also be customized!

Travel to new planets... including ones you created yourself!

Includes everything in the Hunter tier, and:

Add a planet to the game with your choice of enemy types, biomes, name, quests, dungeons - and you may add up to 1 new biome, 2 new enemy types, 1 new boss type and 2 new NPCs. Contact us if you want to talk about whether a specific idea would be possible or not!

Reward Tier Chart

Here is a handy chart showing all the reward tiers and what's included in each one!

Can We Do It?

New islands, new planets, spaceships… a procedural universe?! We have big ambitions for Aground. We also have years of game development experience behind us, and the abilities and commitment necessary to achieve our promises. David, our programmer and project lead, has done extensive work with procedural generation, both within game development and in other computer science endeavors - he knows how to use the power of randomness to augment - rather than replace - carefully human-designed gameplay and digital worlds.

Aground is a collaboration between two small indie teams - Fancy Fish Games and Snobox Studio. Together, our skills and passions create the perfect blend of artistry and technical expertise.

We have already successfully developed and delivered one Kickstarter-funded game - a visual novel called </reality>, which came out last year. We also have over a dozen other released games under our belt.

David is the founder of Fancy Fish Games and has developed and self-published 12 free and commercial games since 2012. He is the project lead, designer and programmer for Aground. David is seriously passionate about experimenting with unique twists and interesting mechanics, and loves to create digital experiences that are surprising yet satisfactory. Find him on Twitter or his blog.

Aaron is the founder of Snobox Studio, and the creator of the gorgeous pixels and animations in Aground. Aaron is an experienced freelance artist and visual designer, with a focus on 2d characters and animation. Follow him on Instagram and Tumblr.

Chase is the mega-talented music composer and sound designer for Aground. Chase has been providing Fancy Fish Games with mesmerizing beats since their first collaboration, I Can’t Escape, in 2013. Follow him on Twitter and check out his website.

Natalie is the co-founder of Fancy Fish Games, a writer and a digital artist. She is providing writing and editing support for the Aground story arcs. Follow her on Twitter and check out her website.

Risks and challenges

We have a lot of experience making games, but with game development (and any software development), there is always the risk of being over time or budget. If we do end up out of funds, we will still release what we have to backers and hope to continue development of the game relying on early access sales. But, even though we will deliver the early access version of the game regardless, there is always the chance that we will not have enough in sales to finish the full game that we have planned. This is an ambitious game, and we want to add a lot of content before we call it “done.” However, we are confident that we can reach a satisfying conclusion for this game (and maybe beyond if we hit stretch goals). With the Kickstarter funds alone, we hope to reach a really nice point in the planned story.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About US$ 200

Alchemist Squared

Brew up some custom character art!

Includes everything in the Merchant tier, plus 2x custom pixel-art (like the Alchemist tier). Have you and your pet in game, or you and a friend! Also includes an extra copy of the game if you want to share with said friend!